After Zoom
by Gwenneth
Summary: Joe and Iris each watched in horror as the creature Zoom appeared at the precinct and at the newspaper office. Now they rush toward S.T.A.R. Labs to find out what happened to their best friend and adopted son. Arrow makes a sort-of appearance and Henry Allen comes to bring back the Flash.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is unbeta'd. I apologize for the errors. I also post my stories on my Wordpress blog (usually before on here!) It's at fanfictionbykate(insertdothere)wordpress(insertdothere)com. Enjoy!

* * *

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters! Just having a bit of fun!

Summary: Joe and Iris each watched in horror as the creature Zoom appeared at the precinct and at the newspaper office. Now they rush toward S.T.A.R. Labs to find out what happened to their best friend and adopted son. Arrow makes a sort-of appearance, too.

* * *

The precinct was in an uproar. A freakishly fast metahuman – if he was even human at all – had just burst onto the balcony with a limp Flash in his grasp. Joe's heart leaped into his throat at the way Barry was not struggling, or even moving at all. It was almost as if he physically couldn't. And the way the creature – Zoom – had effortlessly snatched every bullet from the air was unbelievable.

Barry could be dead right now.

Dead.

Joe didn't even take a moment to tell the captain where he was going. He just burst out the door and into the street, making it to his car in record time. As he flung himself into the driver's seat, his phone buzzed in his pocket and he fished it out – hoping it was news from Caitlyn, Cisco or even Wells.

It was Iris.

"Dad!" Came her voice over the small speakers as Joe threw the car into reverse. "That … that thing has Barry! And … Dad, he didn't look good!"

Joe pulled out of the parking lot of the CCPD with a squeal of tires. "I know, baby," he said. "Zoom brought him to the precinct. Barry wasn't moving. I'm on my way to S.T.A.R. Labs right now."

"Take me with you!"

Joe hesitated. He didn't want to head in the opposite direction to get Iris at CCPN. But he knew she would be beside herself if she wasn't able to get to Barry right away. "Ok, I'm on my way. Meet me outside. Iris … he's going to be OK. He's Barry, OK?"

Iris's sobs came through the phone loud and clear. "He was so still, Dad. Like there was something very wrong. He didn't fight back at all. And yet I know he wasn't unconscious. Dad … I … please hurry."

* * *

Barry hung limply in Zoom's right hand. He could tell something was seriously wrong with his back. The pain was excruciating. Even if he wanted to move, he didn't think he could. He had felt a crack when Zoom had smashed a superspeed fist into his lower back, and he'd felt his legs collapse under him.

Not to mention the stabbing jolts in his chest when Zoom had injected him with the speed dampener he had been carrying – and the one that Harry had fired at him from across the parking lot.

The dampeners stopped him from accessing his speed, but they also halted his rapid healing at least a little because Barry felt like he'd been hit by a bus. He cracked his eyes open, still hanging from Zoom's fist like a ragdoll. He was barely aware of conversation going on around him, and only managed to regain himself enough to pay attention when Zoom turned his hideous visage toward him.

His eyes widened as Zoom plunged two jagged fingers straight into Barry's torso, the pain ripping through him as if he had been stabbed by a knife blade. Zoom seemed ready to push his hand further through Barry when he was suddenly distracted by a dart to his neck.

Zoom roared in anger and dropped Barry, who hit the ground and immediately lost consciousness.

As the speedster zipped from the room in a blaze of blue lightning, Caitlyn shouted Barry's name and rushed across the room, falling to her knees at his side and immediately pressing a hand down on the bleeding stab wound in his torso.

"Oh my God, Barry," Cisco whispered, coming down beside Caityn as Wells screamed angrily and ran in the direction Zoom had vanished. His retreating form was immediately replaced by the incoming Iris and Joe.

Caitlyn looked up as Joe skidded to a stop across from her and fell to his knees.

"Barry?" he whispered, reaching out a shaking hand to brush blood off Barry's face. "Caitlyn?"

She frowned. "Help me get him into the trauma bay. I need to see what we're dealing with before I can start treating him."

Joe lifted Barry's limp body with ease, rushing with Caitlyn, Iris and Cisco to the fully equipped medical bay. He set his adopted son down on the bed, disturbed by how limp and unresponsive Barry appeared.

"Normally he is already healing by now," Joe said. He felt Iris come up beside him and slip her hand into his, shaking lightly.

Caitlyn frowned. "I know. I'm not sure what's going on."

"The speed dampener."

Dr. Wells was standing just outside the bay, looking in at Barry with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Explain," Joe said, his voice taking on a dangerous tone as he eyed the man who had urged Barry to face this Zoom and help take him down. Which had landed Barry half-dead in that hospital bed.

Wells swallowed. "Zoom took Barry's from him when he pinned him – then caught the one I fired at him. He injected Barry with both before he took off with him. I can't say for certain, but while the dampener is in his system, his healing is probably not going to be what it usually is."

Cisco and Caitlyn had divested Barry of his suit as best they could with his body being limp and uncooperative. Iris gasped at the bleeding stab wound. "He's losing a lot of blood!"

Caitlyn tried to steady her hands as she examined the freely bleeding wound. "I know," she said. "I have to make sure there isn't any internal damage before I can close this. I'm going to need you Cisco, the rest of you should leave the room."

Joe wanted to argue, but he knew he'd just be in the way. He took Iris by the shoulders and guided her out of the bay and around to the nearest computer console. They could still see what was going on, but were far enough removed to not be a distraction.

"Cisco," Caitlyn said, never lifting her eyes from Barry. "Get him hooked up so I can track his vitals. I'm going to take on this wound first. Then we'll see what else we have to deal with."

He nodded and did as she asked, watching out the corner of his eye as Caitlyn snapped on gloves and pulled sterile surgical equipment to her side. She wasted no time launching into surgery – hoping Barry wouldn't regain consciousness while she was digging around in his side. She couldn't give him any proper anesthetic – his metabolism would just burn it right off in moments.

"Hang in there, Barry," she said quietly, working with skill and precision despite her fear for her dear friend.

It took a few hours before Caitlyn was satisfied that Barry's wounds were sufficiently dealt with. She had Cisco fit him with a C-collar and a nasal canula. There had to be damage to his spine, and she wanted to keep him as still as possible. And his O2 sats had been low. Not low enough for intubation, but pretty close.

Without his usual healing, she was pretty worried about his condition.

* * *

Iris couldn't tear her eyes from the blood as Caitlyn worked to repair the damage to Barry's abdomen. She could see his body jerk a little and try to press back against the bed and away from the doctor's hands inside him. Caitlyn said something to Cisco, who began to place a collar around Barry's neck.

"Dad, there must be something wrong with Barry's back," she said. "Why else would they need that collar? Oh my God, Dad."She buried her head into her arms on the desk in front of her and let the tears come. Joe laid his hand on her shoulder and started to rub little circles.

"He's our Barry," he said. "He's strong, Iris. He'll get through this."

Iris shook her head in his arms. Her reply was muffled, but audible. "Eddie was strong. He didn't get through, Dad. What if I lose Barry, too? I can't, Dad, I just can't."

A shrill beeping drew her head up. Caitlyn was moving around Barry's bed faster now, thrusting an ambu-bag into Cisco's hands. "I'm nearly done with this wound, I can close up soon. But you need to keep him breathing, Cisco. The fluid resuscitation needs time to work. I've only just gotten on bag into him. I hope we won't need more than we have stored away."

They had drawn blood from Barry and stored it for emergencies. There were five units available. She had already hung one, and would soon need to hang a second. Please God don't let us need more than five.

Cisco held the face mask in place and rhythmically squeezed the bulb. Barry's oxygen saturation increased slowly, but steadily, until the whining machine quieted and Caitlyn heaved a sigh of relief. "Keep it up, Cisco. If you get tired, we'll have Joe or Iris continue."

Joe leaped up and hurried to the room. Iris couldn't have moved even if she wanted to – her gaze was too focused on the rise and fall of Barry's chest and the hand hanging limply from the side of the bed.

It turned out that Joe did have to take over after ten minutes. He tried not to look down at Barry and think of how close he had come to losing him. Or how he could still lose him. But at least Caitlyn had stitched the stab wound in his side.

She stood back and looked at the monitors for a moment. "Joe, stop bagging. Let's see if he can do this on his own now. His vitals are stabilizing."

The detective nodded and drew the mask away from Barry's bruised face. At some point, Cisco or Caitlyn had cleaned the blood from the younger man's visage. But it didn't matter, since the bruised and swollen flesh looked just as bad.

The O2 levels dipped a little, but not alarmingly low. Caitlyn smiled weakly. "I think we're past the danger zone," she said. "Cisco can set him up with some O2 support, just to be on the safe side, but he won't need anything more invasive. I think he's going to be OK, he'll just need more time than usual."

Joe let out a whoosh of breath and Iris moved slowly into the room now that the medical intervention was over. "Thank you, Caitlyn," she whispered. "I don't know what we would do without you. What Barry would do."

The younger woman smiled and started to wipe her hands clean in the nearby sink. "I'm glad I could help," she said. "I just wish he hadn't gotten so badly hurt. Zoom isn't going to let him go, and I … I just don't want to do this again."

No one spoke, each thinking the same thing. Even if Barry ran from Zoom every time, the creature was faster. He's catch him. He'd break him. Again. And again. And again. Unless they figured out a way to defeat him once and for all, or they trapped him back on Earth 2 with no breaches to travel through.

Joe slumped into a chair at Barry's bedside, reaching forward and gripping his adopted son's hand. His son's hand. "God, Barry," he said. "I thought I had lost you there. Please don't do that again."

Iris rubbed her father's shoulder now. "Why don't I get us something to eat? I'll order in a pizza or something."

The others smiled gratefully and Iris moved into the cortex with Cisco, intent on keeping her mind off her grievously injured best friend in the next room.

* * *

It had been a few days and still – Barry had not regained consciousness. Everyone was on edge. Harry and Joe had not spoken a word since Cisco had revealed the news that Zoom had the man's daughter held captive. Iris had spent time at Barry's bedside, watching the bruises and cuts fade away as his healing abilities returned.

"Hey, Bear," she said on the fourth morning. "I know you can hear me. I just want you to know that I don't think any less of you because you couldn't defeat Zoom. And I'm sure you feel like the whole city is now going to look at you like a failure – but that's not true, Barry. It's not. No one is untouchable. The city knows that. They want you back, Barry. They still believe in you. In the Flash. Don't let this set-back stop you. Please come back to us."

She heard footfalls behind her. "Iris? I think it'll be OK if you took a bit of time for yourself. Go home. Get a shower. A good night's rest. It will do you some good. And Barry would zap us with lightning if he knew we were letting you neglect himself to sit by his bedside."

The young woman smiled lightly at Cisco. "You're right. He would!"

With a sigh, Iris stood. "You'll stay with him? And Caitlyn? I don't want him waking up alone."

The dark-haired young man nodded. "Of course."

Iris looked at Barry one more time. He looked peaceful now. No blood. No swelling. No bruising. Just a C-collar and a nasal canula. She turned and was able to leave. He was in good hands.

* * *

Barry was first aware of Cisco and Caitlyn being in the room. Then he could hear Cisco's voice. "I think he's waking up," the other young man said.

With a heavy swallow, Barry opened his eyes and blinked a few times to bring his friends into focus. He felt a heavy feeling in his back, and a slight tinge of pain in his side, but otherwise was feeling surprisingly well for having been beaten to within an inch of his life by a mad speedster from another earth.

"Hey."

They exchanged a few more words before Cisco laid a hand on Barry's thigh and the speedster stared at it in growing horror. He reached down and laid both his own hands on his thighs, rubbing lightly. "Guys," he said. "My legs. I can't feel my legs."

Caitlyn surged forward and began to poke from Barry's feet to his thighs. He didn't have sensation of any kind until she reached as high as his hips. "God, Barry," she said. "We saw Zoom punch your back, but I didn't think he'd damaged the spinal cord. I need to get an MRI."

She shot off like a bullet toward the other room to ready the machine. Cisco pressed a hand on Barry's shoulder. "Just hang in there, bro," he said. "Even if you have spinal cord damage, your body regenerates. You'll heal. Maybe not in a day or two, but you will."

But Barry wasn't as sure as Cisco sounded. He had been destroyed by Zoom. In more ways than one.

What good was a superhero with superspeed – who couldn't stand? Or walk? He leaned his head back against the pillow and licked his lips. This couldn't be happening. The Flash was who he was now. So if he couldn't run and be the Flash – what would he be?

"Barry?" It was Cisco. "You have a phone call."

He handed the phone to the young man, then walked away. Barry was a little confused until he heard the man on the other end of the line. "Hey, kid, I saw the news. Are you … all right?"

It was Oliver Queen.

"Ol…Oliver," he stammered. "Uhm…I'm still breathing."

The other man did his trademark "uhm-hum" – then continued, "So, are you all right?"

Barry swallowed the lump in his throat. "It was a pretty close thing, I've been told," he said quietly. "I'm not going to be up and speeding around all that soon. If ever." He hadn't wanted to add the latter, but he couldn't stop himself.

Oliver's intake of breath was audible. "Ever? It's that bad, huh?"

Barry sighed. "Well, yeh," he said. "Caitlyn is going to do some imaging, but there's some spinal cord injury and at the moment I can't feel anything from the waist down. So … uhm … yeh."

For a moment, the line was silent. Oliver was finding someplace private, Barry supposed. When he did speak again, it was with a firm tone. "You heal fast, Barry," he said. "I have faith you're going to regain feeling and run those lightning fast circles around me again in no time. Don't give up hope. It doesn't do you any good."

The young speedster shook his head. "And having false hope does?"

Oliver frowned, not that Barry could see it. "You've already decided you aren't going to recover, haven't you? You were beaten – badly – in front of friends, strangers, the city you protect. I get it. You feel like a failure. But that doesn't mean you lost, Barry. You just need to get back up and try again."

"I can't get up, though, Oliver," he said, louder than he had intended.

"Yet," was the reply.

Barry growled. "Yes, OK, I know I need to give it time. I just can't imagine that Zoom is going to sit around waiting for me to recover. He's still out there. Innocent people could be hurt, or worse, killed, because I wasn't good enough."

"And what do you think I would have done against that thing, if I had been Central City's hero?" Oliver said. "I would probably have been killed. Snapped like a twig. That … thing … is barely human, if it even is. Barry, you are not defeated. You are just … delayed. Don't lose hope. I haven't lost hope in you."

Barry sighed. "Thanks," he said. "I mean it. It's hard to accept right now, but it does mean a lot that you feel that way. But … can you do me a favor. Don't … don't tell everyone about this. I'm just not ready to talk about it yet."

"Ok, Barry," he said. "But I don't keep anything from Felicity. If she outright asks, I'll have to tell her."

"Fair enough," Barry said. "But please don't volunteer the information. I just need time."

Oliver bid him a farewell and a speedy recovery, then added that he would be in Central City in slightly more time than a flash, but fast, if Barry needed him. "Thanks, bro," the younger man said, before hanging up the phone and looking to meet Caitlyn's eyes. "Test time?"

"Yep," she said. "Let's see what is going on in there."

* * *

Barry clutched the cane in his right hand and leaned heavily on Joe. He was standing, unsteadily, across the room from the motorized wheelchair that Dr. Wells-but-really-Eobard-Thawne had used. His goal was to walk, unaided, to that chair.

He wasn't sure he could.

The pain in his back was bad. And he was tired of being in pain. He had gotten used to healing quickly. This was a shock to his system. He had gone from running at Mach 2, when he went back in time, to barely able to stand.

What a superhero he was shaping up to be.

Barry released his hold on the cane, letting Joe take it from him with a small, pained, "OK." Then he tentatively put one foot in front of the other and moved. One step. Two steps. Three steps. Four, five, six. "I can't!"

He stumbled and Joe grabbed him and helped him make it to the wheelchair. Slumping into it, Barry wheezed another, "I can't" while Joe and the others seemed inclined to remind him that he had been doing so well.

"Yeh, six whole steps, someone give me a bozo button," he muttered, adjusting his sweatshirt and gripping the controller on the arm of the wheelchair. He didn't respond when Iris pointed out anyone else would probably be paralyzed for life.

Turning to the suit in the recessed corner, he sighed. "How long until I'm fully recovered?"

Caitlyn launched into the description of his injuries, complete with the MRI images to back it up. Barry looked, but didn't really look. He was finding it hard to really feel any excitement over the progress he had made when it felt like that progress was next to nothing to him.

"What are we going to do about Zoom?" he said, once again staring at the suit that his friends kept promising he'd wear again. That he wanted to wear again – but at the same time feared to wear again. Feared because Zoom had taken him apart so easily and he was still out there.

No one had an answer for what they would do about Zoom. Harry Wells seemed to think he could go back to Earth 2 and solve the problem from there. The others tried to convince him to stay here and help. Barry just sat there and decided to hell with it, let the man go back if he wanted. It wasn't like Barry was up and ready to run at it again.

"If he wants to go, let him," he said.

He spun the wheelchair around a few times in boredom and let the world run around him. Barry knew Iris, Joe, Cisco and Caitlyn meant well. He really did. But right now, none of them understood what he was feeling. What it was like to be completely torn down in front of everyone. How could he get over that?

Iris, peeking at him later on after he had fell off the treadmill, realized they couldn't help him. They couldn't. But Henry Allen might be able to do what they could not. She smiled at the thought and went to make it happen.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews. They are why there is a chapter two already!_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Henry Allen missed his son. He had, after all, been incarcerated for over a dozen years of Barry's life. It hadn't been easy leaving him so soon after getting out of prison, but Henry knew he couldn't stay. Barry wouldn't have been able to continue his work as the Flash while trying to accommodate fitting his father back into his life.

Barry was too kind a soul to let Henry work his way back into society on his own. He had immediately offered to uproot himself to come to his father's aid – and Henry knew that a shared apartment would have only been the beginning of it. Barry would have had no time to be the Flash.

Still, he wished he could be there for his son like Joe could be.

He fiddled with the laptop on his knees, scrolling through Iris' blog. He was glad she kept it up, since it was the easiest way for him to see what Barry was up to in Central City. When he'd scrutinized all the posts, he opened a new browser window and keyed in the web address for Central City Picture News.

For the second time in his life – Henry Allen felt like someone had stabbed him in the heart.

"IS THE FLASH DEAD?"

The headline stretched across the top of the screen over a picture of a black-clad figure, shrouded in blue bolts of electricity. The creature's hideous face was unreadable. But the figure he held at his side was the only thing Henry could see once his eyes fell on it.

Barry.

His son was hanging limply in the creature's hand – as if he weighed nothing to the one holding him by the neck and shoulder.

Henry didn't even bother to read the story. He slapped the laptop shut and looked at his cell phone. It hadn't rung. If Barry was dead, the phone would have rang. Joe would have called him. So that meant Barry was alive, despite how he appeared in that photo.

Still, Henry was itching to dial the number he knew by heart. To hear his son's voice. To ask if he was all right. To ask what had happened. But he couldn't. He had discussed this with Joe – it was best if he let Barry be the Flash with no distractions.

The sick feeling didn't go away. He kept the phone closer than usual.

* * *

Iris could almost feel the pain in Barry's voice. He wasn't kidding when he said Zoom had destroyed him. The Barry she knew and loved had been replaced by a shell of her friend – struggling to walk without cringing in pain. Paralyzed by the feeling he had failed his city.

She had to do something.

So she dialed.

"Henry? It's me, Iris."

The other end of the line was silent for a moment, then: "Iris. How is he? Is he all right?"

Iris hastily assured Dr. Allen that Barry was on the mend. "But he's not, strictly speaking, all right," she said. "How much do you know about what happened?"

When he said he hadn't read the news, and only knew Barry had been injured by a strange black speedster, she drew in a deep breath and launched into an explanation of who the creature was, what he wanted, and the extent of Barry's injuries.

She heard Dr. Allen suck in a sharp breath when she told him Zoom had broken Barry's back and he had only just begun regaining the ability to feel his legs. "Caitlin says he is healing really well, considering the injuries," she said. "But it's not his body I'm worried about, Henry, it's his mind. He's crushed. I've never seen him like this. And nothing I say, or Dad says, or anyone – nothing is pulling him out of it. I think he needs you."

Henry gripped the phone harder in his hand. "I'm on my way."

* * *

Barry could feel the lightning at his back. But it was feeble. Like he felt. Weak and defeated. Sluggish. He reached out with his left hand to lower the speed of the treadmill slowly, his strides shortening and eventually stopping.

He was out of breath. Again. Leaning forward, he drew in gulps of air and tried to relax his back muscles to relieve the tension and the pain it was causing. He knew he was nearly healed. So why did he still hurt so much?

"Keep that chin down, slugger."

Barry's eyes snapped to the side at the voice.

"Dad."

With more energy than he had felt in days, Barry descended from the treadmill and melted into his father's embrace. He could feel the tension seep out of him in his father's arms and he met Iris' gaze through the glass partition. She knew him so well.

With a smile and a small nod, he tried to convey how much he appreciated her reaching out to his father. And Barry knew it had been Iris. If she couldn't help him, she wouldn't stop until she found someone who could.

Henry drew back and held his son at arm's length, looking at him from head to toe.

Barry was silent, waiting.

"You look good, Barry," the older man said, not letting Barry go completely as he steered him to the nearest set of seats. "When I saw the Central City Picture News headline I just about had a heart attack. But I knew Joe and Iris would have called if you had … if you … God Barry."

The younger man reached out a hand and put it on his father's knee. "I'm OK, Dad," he said. "The newspaper blew it out of proportion."

His father frowned at him. "Of course it did. But seeing you like that, I feared the worst for a heart-stopping second."

"I'm sorry," Barry murmured, pulling his eyes from his father's and casting them down to the hand in his lap. "I didn't mean to worry you. I'm sorry you had to see that."

Henry reached out and grasped the hand on his knee. "I'm sorry you had to go through it."

The elder Allen waited until Barry looked up before continuing. "Tell me what happened, son."

Only hesitating for a moment, Barry launched shakily into the story. He held nothing back. He told his father about all the metahumans that Zoom had been sending to kill him. About all the battles. About the plan to try to trick Zoom.

And about his confrontation with the other speedster.

"It was so hard, Dad," he whispered. "After that shot to the back – I couldn't do anything. I was just limp and he dragged me along wherever he wanted to go. I felt so useless."

Henry gripped Barry's hand tighter – almost on the verge of painfully tight. But he kept his composure. "I can't imagine what that must have felt like, Barry," he said slowly. "I am so proud of you being the Flash – saving people every day. I just wish it wasn't such a dangerous job."

He patted Barry's leg suddenly. "Come on, up you get," he said. "I want to see for myself how you're healing."

Barry hesitated, then grabbed the cane he had been using and leaned slightly on it as he led his father out of the room and into another. Up on a light board was the before and after images from his MRIs.

As his father studied them, Barry studied his father. He looked good. Happy. If only Barry hadn't been so easily defeated, his father could have remained wherever he had been – doing whatever had made him look so relaxed.

But no – Barry had to go and get his ass handed to him by Zoom.

He zoned out most of what his father said, until he said, "I'd give you some physical therapy … but … you don't need it!"

Realizing he probably should be responding, Barry sighed. "I'm glad you're here, Dad."

And he was. It felt good to catch up with his father. To hear about his time camping and eating his fill of fish. That had been a bit of a surprise! And as the older man told his story, Barry was aware that his father was simultaneously trying to tell him it was OK to slow down and gather himself, but he wasn't quite ready to accept that. He wanted to be well now. To get back in the game and start saving his city again.

When Cisco burst in that they had found Caitlin and Grodd – it gave Barry the chance to push aside his feelings and fears once more and focus on the mission.

As he followed his son from the room, Henry Allen wasn't fooled.

Barry still needed to deal with his feelings of inadequacy. Of failure. Of the city not believing in the Flash. This conversation wasn't over.

* * *

 _A/N: Well a few reviews on Fanfiction got me to write this up tonight. I do love reviews! I might have a few more chapters in this story. I like Henry Allen getting to see his son in action…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Cisco and Wells were batting zero with the suspected Grodd lairs. They were now on their way to the last one on their list. Barry acknowledged the plan to move on with a "copy that" and then leaned back in the wheelchair with a sigh. "Now, we wait."

Behind him, Henry was removing his coat. "So this is what it's like ... every time you go after one of those metahumans?"

"Uhm, pretty much," Barry responded. "Only Cisco and Caitlin are normally the ones in here and I'm the one out there."

Now or never.

"Well, there's no reason you shouldn't be."

Henry could practically feel Barry start to shut down. He sighed. "Iris showed me what happened, with Zoom," he said, shuddering as the images of Barry's beating and his limp body hanging from Zoom's grip flashed through his mind. "That was hard to watch. I can only imagine what that must have been like for you."

Barry swallowed, not daring to look at his father. He too was lost in thoughts of that night. The pain of the blow to his back. The sudden fall to the ground as his legs failed to hold him up. Being dragged around like a ragdoll behind Zoom. Thrust out in front of his city and his friends, mocked and ridiculed as not good enough. And the shock of Zoom's hand stabbing into him. He shivered.

"He showed everyone in Central City that their hero wasn't good enough to stop him."

Henry had been expecting that answer. He suspected it was the root of Barry's lingering need for the cane and the wheelchair. He didn't think he was recovered - and therefore his body obeyed his mind - and his mind was certain that he had failed and that he wasn't good enough. The mind has more control over the body than most people realize. Henry knew this. And not just from his medical training. From experience.

Every time he remembered seeing Nora in the middle of the living room, surrounded by lightning, he felt physically ill with the knowledge that she had died alone. That he had been unable to do anything for her. Sometimes, early on, he had rushed to the toilet in his cell and had thrown up until there was nothing left to expel. And then he had dry heaved and sobbed.

The pain had lessened over the years, but he still felt his body betray him when his mind wandered to that day. He knew better than most what Barry was going through.

So he told him. About the trial. About everyone - even family - turning on him.

It wasn't often Henry could do something to help his son. He'd been incarcerated for half of the younger man's life. Not around to help him after bullies beat him up after school. Or to pick him up when he skinned his knee rollerblading.

He hadn't even been in the same state when his son's back was broken by a madman from another dimension. But he could help now.

"So yeah, I do know what it's like being destroyed," he said, trying not to react to the tears he could see glistening in Barry's eyes.

"How did you get past that?" his son asked.

Henry told him. It felt good to get it out. To see how amazed Barry was that the simple act of his believing in him had helped his father get past one of the most difficult times of his life. It felt great to see the moment when Barry got it.

Finally, he felt like the father he had always wanted to be.

* * *

When Barry had been thrown into the concrete support pillar, Henry had felt his heart leap into his throat. He knew that Barry healed fast, but his son had just recovered from a spinal injury and he was now pinned beneath a gigantic gorilla's massive foot.

And it was Henry's persistence that had sent him into that situation.

Maybe he had been wrong?

But Caitlin came to the rescue, convincing Grodd to move into the circle where they needed him. Only, it wasn't enough. The creature was too strong and was fighting the pull of the breach.

"Barry, you can't let Grodd get free. Conquer your fears son, believe in yourself." He poured as much feeling into his words as he could over a microphone. Then he turned back to the video screen.

He could see Barry straighten up with resolve.

At last. The Flash was back.

* * *

Barry was used to hearing Caitlin, Cisco, Harry - even Iris and Joe - over his suit speaker. But he wasn't used to hearing his father's voice. He immediately felt lighter than he had since being beaten by Zoom.

Knowing his father had such faith in him spurred Barry into action. He sped away and turned back just as fast. Grodd was going into that breach. Barry wasn't about to let anyone else get hurt if he had the power to stop it.

With a cry, he launched himself at Grodd and slammed his body into the massive gorilla, spinning so that he could thrust his feet into the creature and deliver a stunningly powerful blow.

Skidding to the ground on the other side of the breach, he whipped around to watch with baited breath whether his superspeeded impact had been enough to get the job done. Grodd struggled, but then he seemed to bend in on himself and with a flash of light - the creature was gone.

And Barry nearly collapsed with relief.

He let himself drop partly to the ground and groaned. It hadn't really hurt, but he was still stiff and his body felt a bit older than he was used to - a feeling he knew would go away as time passed.

It felt amazing to be back, and he couldn't help the broad smile when Cisco threw out a casual, but pleased, "Welcome back, Flash."

* * *

Barry stood beside his father at the bus station. As far as goodbyes went, it wasn't as hard as the last one - when Barry had only just gotten his father back and was already having to let him go again.

This time, both father and son felt like a weight had been lifted. Henry, because he had finally had the chance to really help his son for the first time in a long time. And Barry, because his father had reminded him that he had people who believed in him - and that was enough. Even if the whole city stopped believing, he had his friends and his family and nothing could ever take that away from him.

"Dad, I can't even begin to thank you," he said, turning to face Henry. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't talked some sense into me. I probably would still be buzzing around in that wheelchair feeling sorry for myself."

Henry chuckled. "I don't know," he said. "Joe probably would have dragged you out by your hair eventually. But ... all the same, I'm glad I could help. That something good came of such a terrible part of our lives is rather amazing, really."

Barry nodded. "Yeh," he said. "I guess."

As the bus drew up to the stop, Barry reached out and drew his father into a tight embrace. "You'll come visit soon, right? Because this time around, I wasn't at my best. You've got to see some of the crazy things we get up to when we're training. Like the one time I caught one of Cisco's drone missiles and flung it back at his drone and blew it up..."

"Barry!" his father said. "You didn't really catch a missile?"

His son smiled. "You should have seen it, it was brilliant, Dad!"

Henry shook his head fondly. "You can't tell a father these things, Barry, you'll give me a heart attack!" He leaned in. "But between you and me ... very cool."

Barry smiled widely and Henry couldn't help but do the same. "I promise, I'll visit soon, son," he said as the bus began boarding. "You keep safe. I don't want Iris or Joe calling to tell me you're laid up again."

"I'll do my best," Barry said solemnly. The barely concealed smirk kept the mood light. "You take care of yourself, too."

As the bus drew off with the elder Allen aboard, Barry glanced around to make sure no one was looking - then he sped off, lightning crackling in his wake, running alongside the bus and then turning sharply off toward Central City.

Henry shook his head at the disappearing light. That was his Barry. Always landing on his feet - even if it took a while to get there.

* * *

A/N: Not happy really with this ending. Honestly, I probably shouldn't have drawn this out like I did, but I did - so hopefully someone enjoys! Next I think I'll do a Wally learns Barry is the Flash fic. I've been dying to try those out. I have a few different scenarios in mind. Any interest? I think I'll write better when I'm not trying to mesh it with actual dialog/scenes...


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